It has been known in the exercising art to use exercise gloves for various physical activities. These gloves have been used in many sporting activities including for example, swimming, aerobics and sky diving. Various designs of exercise gloves have been used to facilitate more efficient exercise and better utilization of body movement during the exercising process.
Exercise gloves which have been used to enhance swimming activities are also present in the prior art. Examples of such devices may be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,158, Wise. The Wise patent discloses a mitt made of latex for improving positive water displacement when a swimmer paddles in the water. The gloves have webbing extending between adjacent digit pockets on the gloves. Similar types of gloves are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,365, Eyman. Eyman also discloses the use of webbed gloves for aquatic activity and sky diving.
The Eyman patent further discloses finger stalls joined together with a web. Additionally U.S. Pat. No. 2,169,939, Anderson discloses a swimming glove having accordion-like, pleated webs between the finger portions of the glove so that when the fingers are together, the webs will remain folded neatly between the fingers and thumb without interfering with the grasping function of the hand. As with the gloves disclosed in the Eyman and Wise patents, the gloves disclosed in the Anderson patent are generally useful for increasing swimming agility and speed due to the action of the webbed portion of the glove between the finger stalls in the water.
However, the exercise gloves disclosed in the aforementioned patents fail to satisfy a long felt need in the art for exercise gloves which can be used in aquatic or other sports and that are useful for producing maximal results from physical exercise. The gloves disclosed in the previous patents secure the webbing to the finger stalls at the distal end of the distal phalanges of the fingers. This creates a severe disadvantage since the exercise forces acting on the webbing causes inertial forces to be concentrated at the weakest point on fingers thereby causing excess muscle stress to develop in the non-primary muscle groups found in the fingers and hands. The finger and outer hand muscle groups are considered herein as non-primary muscle groups since exercising gloves provided in accordance with this invention are not intended to primarily benefit these muscle groups. Unnecessary stress of this nature reduces exercise results for the primary muscle groups. Exercise gloves provided in accordance with this invention are intended to benefit primary muscle groups such as, for example, back muscles, shoulder muscles and upper and lower arm muscles. The inventor of the subject matter herein disclosed has discovered that securing the webbing between the proximal end of the distal phalanges of the fingers and the palm of the hand eliminates undue stress induced in non-primary muscle groups.
Decreasing the stress induced in non-primary muscle groups over even a short distance while exercising creates a significant increase in the exercise efficiency of the primary muscle groups under exertion. Additionally, fatigue induced in the non-primary muscle groups due to the misplacement of the webbing which otherwise decreases the amount of time that a user of the glove can engage in exercise is eliminated with exercise gloves provided in accordance with this invention, thereby increasing the potential benefits that a person can obtain in the primary muscle groups from longer duration exercising. The inventor has discovered that the aforementioned unexpected results are achieved when the webbing is placed between the proximal end of the distal phalanges and the palm of the hand.
Other prior art devices have been devised which aid swimmers in performing swimming exercises. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,313, Bray et al. The Bray patent teaches a swimming aid with truncated finger stalls adapted to generally conform to the shape of an outspread hand. Webbing is provided between the finger stalls to aid the swimmer in achieving greater propulsion in the water. The devices disclosed in Bray teach truncating the finger stalls at the distal end of the middle phalanges which leaves the distal phalanges exposed to the outside environment. Furthermore, the gloves disclosed in Bray only generally conform to the shape of an outspread hand and do not allow a swimmer to manipulate his fingers within the glove thereby preventing the glove from attaining comfortable flexed shapes.
In order to maintain the webbing position on the gloves, the devices disclosed in Bray rely on tightly binding the glove material to the fingers thereby placing extreme stress directly on the finger lengths. It is known by those with skill in the art that when muscles are being used in exercise, blood flow must be continuously provided to the muscles in order for the muscles to avoid undue lactic acid buildup. Thus, the finger muscles must not be tightly squeezed by the glove since blood flow to the finger muscles will greatly decrease and muscle fatigue will be accelerated.
The devices disclosed in Bray fail to solve a long felt need in the art for exercise gloves which provide exercise appliances that promote continuous blood flow to the fingers thereby minimizing muscle fatigue during exercise. Similar prior art devices to those disclosed in Bray may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,910, Tegland; U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,991, Southworth; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,863, Ferdico. None of the exercise gloves taught in the above mentioned patents fulfill a long felt need in the art for efficient exercise appliances to aid an exerciser in maximizing the results of his exercise routine or workout.
Other exercise appliances are disclosed in the prior art which aid exercisers in performing a particular exercise. U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,588, Kosuge, discloses one such appliance for swimming. The device in Kosuge is not a glove per se but rather, is comprised of a plurality of tubular members joined together by web like members extending between each adjacent tubular member. The tubular members are intended to fit over human fingers and aid a swimmer in the water with induced propulsion power. The devices disclosed in Kosuge do not fulfill a long felt need in the art for gloves which aid exercisers in swimming since they are not securable to the hand and thus may easily fall off during exercise procedures. Additionally, the exercise aids disclosed in Kosuge tend to enhance fatigue by stressing the muscles along the fingers and wrists since they force the user to tense his hand to hold the appliance in place.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,257,673, Rademacher, discloses similar exercise appliances to those disclosed in Kosuge. The devices disclosed in Rademacher suffer similar problems as those devices disclosed in Kosuge since they are not gloves but are merely tubular members fastened together with webbing. The swimming appliances disclosed in Rademacher teach the elimination of a facing piece over the palm and the elimination of a rear backing which would aid in securing the glove to the hand. Instead, a wrist band is used to retain the device in its preferred position on the hand. This arrangement is inadequate to consistently secure the appliance to the hand. Thus the devices disclosed in Rademacher do not fulfill a long felt need in the art for exercise appliances which efficiently help an exerciser maximize the results of his exercise regimen.
None of the prior art devices discussed above teach or disclose exercise gloves which are able to aid an exerciser in maximizing his or her exercise regimen. Rather, the prior art merely discloses devices which increase resistance with the use of webbing across finger stalls. This arrangement allows a swimmer to swim faster but cannot enhance the effects of any exercising routine. The devices disclosed in the prior art also do not fulfill a long felt need in the art recognized by the inventor for exercise appliances that enhance exercise effectiveness in any exercise routine. In contrast, exercise appliances provided in accordance with this invention fulfill a long felt need in the art for devices that increase the effects of any exercise that requires shoulder, arm or hand motion as an integral part of the exercise routine.